The Overworked Beta and the Paranoid Alpha 13

Chapter 13: Having a Burger

“Can you wait for me outside?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Who knows if you’ll try to escape.”
“This shower room is completely enclosed. It doesn’t even have windows.”
“A cunning rat can slip away through the sewers, understand?”
“…”
Romeo’s face was a picture of defiance. “Then you really overestimate me. I don’t know magic, nor do I know any mysterious Eastern bone-shrinking techniques.”
“If you keep dawdling, you can go back to the interrogation room and stay there,” Wen En said, as hard as a block of iron, absolutely not allowing the Alpha in front of him to show any disobedience.
Romeo just stared at him. The scent of coconut mixed with lemon Alpha pheromones swept across Wen En’s face like a tropical hurricane, instantly filling the entire shower room.
“Control your pheromones, Mr. Romeo,” Wen En said expressionlessly.
“I won’t do anything to you, but I can’t say the same for the people from the K9 Planet Police Department outside. If they mistake it for a provocation, you understand? Like a tiger entering a brown bear’s den and leaving its scent, I can’t say how they’ll beat you up.”
“Will you just stand by and watch, sir?” Romeo stared at him, like a viper staring at a cheetah.
“Of course, I’ll stand by and watch,” Wen En said calmly.
“…”
Romeo snorted. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if in a smile, but his eyes were extremely sharp. He looked at Wen En, wishing he could slice him into pieces like a loaf of whole wheat bread.
It would be best if there was an oven nearby, so he could put the Wen En-brand bread slices in the oven, bake them at 200 degrees Celsius until they were fragrant and crispy, then pop them in his mouth and chew them into a fine paste.
Unfortunately, Wen En, this extremely hard metallic ore, bore no resemblance to whole wheat bread. 200 degrees Celsius couldn’t reach his melting point; that temperature couldn’t even penetrate his skin.
“Alright, sir. You just watch. See how I use magic or some mysterious Eastern Taoist art to escape this godforsaken place.”
The scent of pheromones in the air did not diminish; instead, it intensified. Now, Wen En was about to face extreme weather, the main event at the center of the hurricane: a downpour.
The buttons were slowly undone, and the clothes fell away layer by layer, like a water lily, until only the stamen remained.
“Satisfied?” Romeo said.
His gem-like eyes were like the crater of an active volcano, with molten lava about to erupt.
Wen En, however, looked him up and down. The black python tattoo coiled around Romeo’s body was quite conspicuous. Wow, he hadn’t expected Romeo to have something like this tattooed on him.
This black python was a stark contrast to Romeo’s artistic temperament, like a venomous snake hanging on a piece of Baroque art. However, considering that Romeo was a person with a deceptive appearance and a treacherous heart, Wen En felt that it wasn’t so strange for him to have such a tattoo.
Wen En’s gaze continued downward, lingering on a certain indescribable thing…
Uh… how to put it? Let’s not say it. Those who know, know. It was the kind of thing that would make Green River Literature City explode.
Wen En found it hard to comment. That thing looked much more evil than the black snake on his body.
Wen En glanced there again before shifting his gaze to the clothes hanging on Romeo’s arm. He turned slightly, pointed to the washer-dryer, and said in a cold voice, “Throw the clothes into the washer-dryer.”
Romeo glared at Wen En before opening the washer-dryer, putting the clothes inside, and pressing the start button. The screen showed that the cleaning cycle would end in ten minutes.
The washer-dryer started running. Romeo walked under the showerhead and turned the knob.
Hot water sprayed down from the showerhead, falling on Romeo. He closed his eyes, letting the water wash over his face.
Soon, he was finished. He grabbed a disposable towel from a nearby cabinet, dried the water droplets from his body, and walked up to Wen En. “I’m done,” he said.
“That’s great,” Wen En replied.
Romeo sneered, flicked the disposable towel in his hand, and threw it at Wen En. “Did you enjoy the show, Mr. Wen En?”
The presence of Wen En’s gaze was too strong, like long, thin silver needles piercing every millimeter of Romeo’s skin. It was hard for Romeo not to be aware of it.
“It was okay,” Wen En commented, casually tossing the towel into the trash can.
Not even a good review? Hearing Wen En’s words, Romeo almost fainted from anger. Of course, he still suppressed the urge to flare up, because he knew that if he started a conflict with Wen En here and caused a commotion, the big guys outside would definitely help Wen En, not him.
Romeo had no desire to experience another beating.
“So, where are you taking me next, sir? To lunch?” Romeo said through gritted teeth.
“Let’s go,” Wen En said noncommittally.

They walked out of the shower room.
The group of burly men were sitting on the bench press, drinking freshly mixed protein powder.
Most of the staff at the K9 Planet Police Department were Alphas, with a few Betas. Perhaps it was because they had just finished exercising, or perhaps because Alpha hormones were naturally more potent, or maybe it was the high-protein diet, but the entire gym was filled with a strange, complex smell of sweat mixed with Alpha pheromones.
It was a smell with many layers of stink.
Even an Alpha like Romeo felt a headache coming on.
Romeo glanced at Wen En out of the corner of his eye. Wen En remained expressionless, unperturbed. His micro-expressions, however, betrayed his thoughts. He raised his hand and rubbed his nose.
“Young man, want to join us for some protein powder?” The burly officer, despite the smell, was quite enthusiastic. “This is the best brand on K9 Planet.”
“Thanks, but I have other things to attend to. I’ll be going now,” Wen En declined with a smile.
“Alright then,” the burly man said, a little disappointed.
After following Wen En out of the gym, Romeo couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Wen En said expressionlessly.
What, is this guy looking for another beating?
“I thought Betas weren’t very sensitive to smells,” Romeo said leisurely.
“We’re just not very sensitive to pheromones. We’re not like Omegas, who are overly affected by Alpha pheromones. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a sense of smell,” Wen En gave him a strange look. What kind of weird prejudice is this guy spouting?
“You’re right about everything, sir. So where are we going for lunch?” Romeo said.
Honestly, after not eating for over a dozen hours, and with an Alpha’s high metabolism, Romeo was starving.
“Of course, the fast-food joint at the entrance of the police department,” Wen En said.
He had eaten there yesterday and thought the food was pretty good. The beef patty in the burger was fresh and juicy, the sauce was perfectly seasoned, the fries were crispy and delicious, and the onion rings were also very good.
“Can we go somewhere a little more elegant?” Romeo frowned and said with dissatisfaction. “This is our first date, Wen En. You’re being so perfunctory.”
“You really don’t want to go to a fast-food restaurant?”
“Yeah, I don’t,” Romeo nodded.
Wen En stared into Romeo’s beautiful blue eyes. Ripples danced in those charming eyes, and beneath those ripples, what unknown schemes were hidden?
“Fast-food restaurants are noisy and crowded. I’m not used to them,” Romeo said, looking a little wronged.
“Fast-food restaurants aren’t entirely without merit. The cramped environment at least prevents you from getting out of my sight and taking the opportunity to escape,” Wen En said, sensing what he was up to and firmly refusing.
“Ah, alright,” Romeo blinked. He had been found out.
“But I advise you not to be so possessive. It’s necessary to give people some space.”
“If you say one more word of nonsense, you won’t even get fast food,” Wen En said.
“My mistake, my mistake, okay?” Seeing that his struggle was futile, Romeo knew when to quit.

Wen En was right. The food at this place was better than Romeo had imagined.
The beef in the burger was freshly made, pan-fried in butter, with a faint milky fragrance. The salad was also very good. The only drawback was that their coffee was instant.
Romeo had personally witnessed the waitress, a short, stocky woman with dark skin, take a jar of instant coffee powder from a drawer at the front desk, scoop out several spoonfuls of a mixture of dark brown and off-white powder, pour it into a coffee pot, then fill the pot with hot water from a dispenser and stir it several times with a stirring rod.
The woman took two cups, walked to the table where Wen En was sitting, placed the cups in front of Romeo and Wen En, and then poured two full cups of coffee.
“Your coffee,” the woman said with a friendly smile. After pouring the coffee, she turned to attend to other matters.
Wen En picked up an onion ring, dipped it in ketchup, ate it, then picked up his cup of coffee and took two sips to wet his throat.
Romeo was silent. Alright, he admitted, he had a bit of a prejudice against instant coffee. He was already a little… reluctant to eat at a fast-food restaurant.
If he drank instant coffee, then his character, his manners, all his etiquette would cease to exist—although he was a suspect now, so in a way, he didn’t have much morality or etiquette to speak of.
Romeo glanced at the waitress. She was wiping a table with a cloth, humming along to the music video on the TV. So, he lowered his voice and said to Wen En, “Can I change the coffee to hot tea?”
At least hot tea was made with tea bags, which was more acceptable than instant coffee.
“What do you think?” was Wen En’s reply.
Romeo looked at Wen En’s knife-like gaze and silently swallowed. Forget it, instant coffee is actually pretty good.

“Are you done eating?” Wen En took a napkin, wiped his mouth, and then took another one and handed it to Romeo.
“Thanks,” Romeo took the napkin.
His gaze once again secretly shifted to Wen En, observing his expression. Just as Wen En was sizing him up, Romeo also wanted to know what Wen En was planning.
At that moment, Wen En looked up and met Romeo’s gaze. This time, neither of them looked away.
After observing for so long, Wen En had roughly figured out Romeo’s personality. He seemed mysterious and complex, but he was also surprisingly easy to understand. He was just like his appearance. He not only had the face of a male lead in an art film, but his personality was also sensitive and self-centered, hypocritical and opportunistic.
His fingertips rubbing against the water glass on the table, Wen En said, “For our next stop, I was planning to take you to see the prison environment on K9 Planet.”
The hand that had been kneading the napkin stopped moving. “Are you in such a hurry to send me in, Mr. Wen En?” Romeo smiled, although there was no hint of a smile in his blue eyes.
“The prison environment on K9 Planet is not bad. The prisoners here are mostly white-collar criminals or petty thieves. The truly heinous criminals are all exiled to an unnamed planet on the edge of the Interstellar Federation Empire, near an asteroid belt. Resources are scarce there, and there are countless meteor showers every day. Of the prisoners exiled there, less than four percent survive for more than three years.”
Wen En said, “Mr. Romeo, take a guess, how many prisoners have I sent to that nameless planet?”
“…”
This time, Romeo couldn’t even force a fake smile.
“I can’t guess,” Romeo said.
Wen En raised his hand and held up three fingers.
“Mr. Romeo, if you ask me, I don’t think you’re a one hundred percent evil person. Do you know what truly heinous people are like?” After thinking for a moment, Wen En added:
“Oh, right, I remember now. You must have seen them at the central bank a few years ago. Those lunatics in masks, holding guns, shooting every living creature in sight, not even sparing the rats that passed by.”
Romeo’s face was grim. After a few seconds, he sneered and said:
“So, you think I’ll become a lunatic like that in the future?”
Since he was a child, Romeo had heard such words from others countless times. You’ll become a bad person, a lunatic, you’re a freak, blah blah blah…
At first, Romeo found it annoying. Later, he didn’t care. Anyway, the world was full of bad people and lunatics. One more or one less wouldn’t make a difference.
“Not really,” Wen En denied his statement. “I said from the beginning, you’re not that kind of extreme evil person.”
“Wow, then thank you for your trust,” Romeo said.
“But at the same time, I hope even more that you won’t be used by extremely evil people to do something irreversible.”
Romeo smiled. “Do I have that much power, to be able to do something irreversible?”
“That’s how the butterfly effect works. You never know what kind of result a small event in the past will have in the future,” Wen En said, slowly pulling a napkin from the dispenser and wiping his hands.
“So… after all that buildup, Mr. Wen En, what exactly do you want me to do?”
“I need you and Claire to put out the word in your transaction circle that the Vulcan gem that was anonymously traded a few years ago was a fake, and you hope to re-trade with the anonymous trader.”
“…” After hearing this, Romeo’s mouth fell open.
“What’s wrong? Do you have any other opinions?” Wen En frowned.
“No, boss, do you know what it means for me and Claire to send out this message?”
Romeo was extremely shocked.
It meant that the reputation Romeo and Claire had built up in their circle would completely collapse.
Before they sold the gem to the anonymous client, they would conduct various tests. The test report for Vulcan alone was three hundred pages long. They were so meticulous that their clients knew that the things they sold would absolutely not be fake.
Among those clients, there were many ruthless characters, such as interstellar thieves and mercenaries. If this “fake news” leaked out, and those ruthless characters thought they had been tricked…
Even if he and Claire washed their hands of it and turned over a new leaf, this group of ruthless characters would dig three feet into the ground to find them and turn them into mummies.